The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade summoned the Dutch Ambassador to Budapest “because of the unacceptable statements made by the Dutch Prime Minister”, the Ministry said in a statement to Hungarian news agency MTI on Thursday.

At the meeting, the Ministry’s State Secretary for Information and the International Representation of Hungary Tamás Menczer rejected the “unfounded accusations” of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, the statement reads. “The fundamental conflict between the Dutch and Hungarian Government is their differing approach to immigration”, the State Secretary declared, adding that in his opinion: “The Hungarian Government is saying no to immigration, and many people aren’t happy about that; this is the basis of all criticism”.

The State Secretary pointed out that the previous Dutch Ambassador compared the Hungarian Government to terrorists “simply because it rejects immigration”.

“The unfounded criticism is unacceptable; the people of Hungary elected the Orbán government with a two-thirds majority, and this is something everyone must respect, as they must also respect the fact that Hungary is saying no to immigration”, Mr. Menczer added. An article published in Dutch daily De Telegraaf entitled “Rutte attacks Baude” reports on the campaign speech given by Prime Minister Mark Rutte in Barendrecht.

In the part about the EU, the Dutch Prime Minister also referred to Hungary. “The EU is not perfect, and accordingly there is a reason why people sometimes turn away from it, but despite its imperfections we cannot afford to turn our backs on it”, he explained. According to Mark Rutte, however, “this is precisely what some European politicians are doing”. “Let’s take Hungary, for example, where the rule of law is not respected, and they are doing all this as if it will have absolutely no repercussions”, the Dutch Prime Minister said.

(MTI)